Hearing aid

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method of adjusting a hearing aid in a fitting situation where the hearing impaired person is present, where sound is provided through one or more speakers, where the hearing aid is placed in/on the ear of the hearing impaired in the intended working position, where the sound signal is provided and where the hearing aid is producing a microphone level and/or frequency output signal in correspondence to its actual working position and in response to the sound provided, where this output signal is provided to the fitting software during the fitting process.

AREA OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the area of hearing aid fitting. Moreparticularly the invention relates to the area of calibrating thefitting equipment and the hearing aid in the fitting situation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Today the fitting situation where a hearing aid is fitted to a hearingimpaired person is often carried out using playback of soundenvironments recorded in natural situations in order to obtain the bestfit of the hearing aid to the real world. Sometimes a simultaneousplayback of synchronized still pictures or live pictures is performed,which is enhancing the hearing impaired persons experience of thelistening situation. The latter is however only intended to improve theeffect of real world sound. When performing the fine tuning using CDsound stimuli, it is important that the level of the sound adjusted iscorrect, i.e. that the level of the stimulus going into the hearinginstrument and to which the person responds actually corresponds to thelevel adjusted by the dispenser in the software.

It is well known to perform the calibration of the system by placing thehearing instrument approximately in the position of the person to befitted and afterwards adjusting the sound level to match the actualintended situation to be simulated. It has however shown that thismethod does not perform satisfactory, as the level may be to low in somefrequency areas and to high in others, which may lead to an overall tolow level with a lack of perception as a consequence for the hearingimpaired.

Therefore there is a need of improving the calibration of the microphonein these situations.

The objective of the present invention is to provide a method, anequipment and a software by which the sound level actually received bythe hearing instrument and processed for the hearing impaired to ahigher degree corresponds to the sound levels displayed and adjusted bythe dispenser in the software of the fitting equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention this is achieved by means of the method asdefined in claim 1.

By performing the calibration in the actual operating position of thehearing aid the ear, head and body influence on the sound transferfunction is taken into consideration. By doing this online or real-timeduring the fitting process the level of actual signals is taken intoaccount and can therefore be of significant importance in especiallyfine-tuning of the hearing aid. This will improve the fitting andthereby the actual performance of the hearing aid after the fitting hasbeen completed.

In one embodiment the invention can be performed by making adjustmentsto the actual sound output during playback, thereby compensating for theinfluences on the sound transfer function by the hearing aid user. Inanother embodiment the invention can be performed by providing a visualindication on the display used by the hearing aid professional herebyallowing him/her to make the adjustment of the hearing aid in theappropriate way.

The invention further relates to a fitting equipment capable ofperforming the invention in connection with a hearing aid adapted fordelivering an microphone output level signal.

According to the invention this is achieved by means of fittingequipment as defined in claim 6.

By such fitting equipment in combination with a hearing aid as mentionedabove the same advantages as mentioned in connection with the method canbe achieved.

Still further the invention relates to a fitting software for use in afitting equipment as described above.

According to the invention this is achieved by means of software asdefined in claim 8.

By such fitting software in combination with a computer and a hearingaid as mentioned above the same advantages as mentioned in connectionwith the method can be achieved. The software may be stored on a machinereadable medium, e.g. a diskette, a CD-ROM, a flash memory, a HDD or thelike or it may be stored directly in the memory of the PC and/or thefitting equipment.

The invention will be explained more detailed in the followingdescription of a preferred embodiment with reference to the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram depicting elements of a system usingthe principles of the method according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing elements of a hearing aid andprogramming equipment

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a hearing aid connected to aprogramming equipment, where the level output from the hearing aid isindicated on the display of the programming equipment.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1 a fitting system for fitting a hearing aid comprisesa computer having suitable fitting software installed. The computercomprises a display. The computer and the hearing aid are interconnectedby means of wireless communication or wires and an interface modulekeeping the computer and the hearing aid galvanically separated. Theinterconnection provides for data transfer to and from the hearing aidin a manner controllable by means of the computer.

The hearing aid is designed with a level meter capable of determiningthe microphone output frequency and/or level and being in connectionwith the terminals for communication with the computer.

During fitting the microphone output is displayed and the hearing aidprofessional may based on this information adjust the hearing aidparameters accordingly. Alternatively, the information on the microphoneoutput may be used within the software to adjust the level of thepresented sound to a predefined level.

It should be noted that the modifications are optional; the fitter willdecide based on the wearer's response what any modifications to thehearing instrument response should be.

From FIG. 2 the essential elements of the hearing aid signal path 1appears. It is indicated that the microphone level signal is a signalobtained between the microphone and the signal processor. It could infact as well be obtained form the signal processor. The signal istransmitted to the interconnecting programming device 2 and from thereto the programming computer 4 running a fitting software.

From FIG. 3 the entire system becomes apparent. The hearing aid 1 isconnected to the interconnecting programming device 2 and from there toa programming computer 4 having a display 3 and a keyboard 5. Thecomputer is controlling a speaker generating sound. On the display tocurves are indicated where one represents the actual microphone level.

1. A method of adjusting a hearing aid in a fitting situation where thehearing impaired person is present, where sound is provided through oneor more speakers, where the hearing aid is placed in/on the ear of thehearing impaired in the intended working position, where the soundsignal is provided and where the hearing aid is producing a microphonelevel and/or frequency output signal in correspondence to its actualworking position and in response to the sound provided, where thisoutput signal is provided to the fitting software during the fittingprocess and where the microphone output is used to adjust the leveland/or spectrum of the sound produced through the loud speaker/s.
 2. Amethod according to claim 1, where the microphone output is used toproduce a visual indication of the level and/or frequency on the displayused by the hearing aid professional during the fitting process.
 3. Amethod according to claim 1, where the output level signal is analyzedfor both intensity content and frequency content.
 4. A method accordingto claim 3, where the intensity and the frequency content of the signalis indicated on the display used by the hearing aid professional.
 5. Afitting equipment for performing the method according to any of thepreceding claims on a hearing aid capable of providing an microphoneoutput level and/or frequency signal to the fitting equipment, where theequipment is adapted for indicating the microphone output during thefitting procedure.
 6. A fitting equipment according to claim 5, wherethe equipment is adapted for producing a visual indication of the levelon the display used by the hearing aid professional during the fittingprocess.
 7. A fitting software for use in connection with a fittingequipment according to any of the previous claims, where the software isadapted for producing an output for the fitting equipment indicating themicrophone output level during the fitting procedure.
 8. A fittingsoftware according to claim 7, where the software is adapted forproducing a signal enabling a visual indication of the level on thedisplay of the fitting equipment used by the hearing aid professionalduring the fitting process.